Grab-bucket



" June 24, 1969. M. PITAVAL GRAB-BUCKET Filed Out. 19, 1955 United States Patent 3,451,150 GRAB-BUCKET Maurice Pitaval, St. Chamond, France, assignor to Socrete Anonyme dite: Auxitra, Paris, France, a French company Filed Oct. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 497,978 Claims priority, applicatitg; France, Mar. 1, 1965,

Int. Cl. B66c 3/02 US. Cl. 37-186 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a grab-bucket comprising two shells pivotally mounted on a support member capable of being actuated by a hydraulic jack. Such grabbuckets are used with handling apparatus or lifting apparatus such as cranes and scoops.

Recently grab-buckets have been proposed which are capable of pivoting about a vertical axis with respect to the apparatus from which they are suspended. But these grabs are relatively complicated and necessitate, that the pipes which supply the operating jack, pass through the piston rod of the jack.

The present invention has for its object a grab-bucket which whilst being able to pivot about the vertical axis, is more simply constructed than hitherto proposed buckets.

According to the present invention there is provided in a grab-bucket, a support member, two shells pivotallymounted on said support member, actuating links pivotally connected to the shells, a hydraulic jack comprising a cylinder, a piston slidable therein and a piston rod, and means at the upper end of the cylinder for coupling the grab-bucket to handling apparatus, the sup port member being mounted on the lower part of the cylinder for pivotal movement about the axis of the cylinder, and the actuating links being carried by the piston rod.

In a modification, the support member of the shells can be fixed to the piston rod of the hydraulic jack, the links being, in this case, pivoted on a support member which is pivotally mounted on the lower part of the cylinder.

An embodiment of a grab-bucket according to the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the present grab-bucket apparatus partly in section; and

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view, to an enlarged scale, of a detail of the bucket.

As is shown in the drawing, the grab-bucket comprises two shells 1 which are pivotally mounted at 2 on a support member 3 and an actuating hydraulic jack including a cylinder 4 and a piston 5.

The cylinder 4 of the jack carries at its upper end a bracket 6 which is suspended by a double cardan joint 7 at the end of an arm 8 of a handling apparatus.

A sleeve 9 which is lined internally with an antifriction liner 10 and comprises an annular rim 9a, is fitted in the lower part of the cylinder 4 and is fixed by studs 11 to a ring 12 rigid with this cylinder. The sleeve 9 limits the downward stroke of the piston 5.

The support member 3 is rigid, at its upper end, with a disc 3a which is secured by bolts 13 to a ring 14 pivotally mounted on the rim 9a of the sleeve 9, the rim thus acting as a bearing. The ring 14 is surmounted by two half sectors 15 which are secured to the member 3 by the bolts 13 and which are engaged in a recess 16 of the ring 12; these half sectors ensure that the member 3 is held in such a manner that it can pivot about the axis of the cylinder 4.

The piston 5 is fixed to the upper end of a rod 17 which is slidably mounted in the anti-friction bush 10. The two semi-shells 1 are connected to this rod 17 by pivotal links 18 which pass through vertical slots in the member 3.

The cylinder 4 can be connected to a source of pressurized fluid by two pipes 19 and 20 which deliver respectively to the upper part of the cylinder and the lower part of the cylinder, the delivery point of the latter being at a height corresponding to the upper limit of the sleeve 9.

When the source of pressurized fluid is placed in communication with the pipe 19 whilst the pipe 20 is scavenged, the piston 5 descends, which causes the shells 1 to pivot about the axis 2 and eifects their closure. Conversely, when the source of pressurized fluid is placed in communication with the pipe 20 whilst the pipe 19 is scavenged, the piston again rises and the shells open.

The member 3 and the piston 5 can both pivot with respect to the cylinder 4, and it will be seen that the shell assembly can be adjusted to any desired angular position. During this orientation, the pipes 19 and 20 remain fixed; they are not therefore hindered by the movement of the shell assembly and can if necessary, carry out a complete rotation, or even several rotations about the axis of the jack.

I claim:

1. A grab-bucket apparatus comprising a hydraulic cylinder, a piston slideably engaged within said cylinder, a piston rod extending downwardly from said piston and beyond the bottom of said cylinder, support means connected to said cylinder and rotatable with respect thereto, a pair of bucket shells, a pair of links, one link being pivotally connected at one end to one of said shells, each of said shells being pivotally connected to one of said support means and said rod, the other end of each of said links being pivotally connected to the other of said support means and said rod.

2. The apparatus defined in claim 1 further comprising a handling apparatus, a cardan joint, said cardan joint connecting said cylinder to said handling apparatus.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said shells are pivotally connected to said rod and said other ends of said links are pivotally connected to said support means.

4. In a grab-bucket according to claim 3,

a disc rigid with the end of the support member adjacent the cylinder,

a ring having an inner cylindrical surface and superposed on said disc,

two half-rings superposed on said ring,

an inwardly-directed annular flange integral with each half-ring,

means securing said disc, ring and half-rings together,

a sleeve secured at the lower end of said cylinder,

an outwardly-directed flange on said sleeve having an outer cylindrical surface complementar to the inner cylindrical surface of said ring,

a stepped ring mounted on and co-axial with the flange on said sleeve, the step thereof being engaged by the flanges of said half-rings to prevent movement of said support member axially of the cylinder, and

an anti-friction liner interposed between the interior surface of the sleeve and the piston rod.

5. A grab-bucket assembly comprising an elongate Support member having an upper end and a lower end,

a pair of bucket shells,

pivot means coupling each shell to the lower end of the support member,

a hydraulic cylinder having an upper end and a lower end, the lower end being juxtaposed to the upper end of the support member and rotatably mounting said member,

a piston operable in said cylinder,

a piston rod rigid with the piston and extending beyond the lower end of the cylinder,

means for actuating said piston,

linkage means pivotally connecting the piston rod and the shells,

a universal joint for connecting the upper end of the cylinder to handling apparatus,

a disc rigid with the end of the support member adjacent the cylinder,

a ring having an inner cylindrical surface and super- 2 posed on said disc, two half-rings superposed on said ring,

an inwardly-directed annular flange integral with each half-ring,

means securing said disc ring and half-rings together,

a sleeve secured at the lower end of said cylinder,

an outwardly-directed flange on said sleeve having an outer cylindrical surface complementary to the inner cylindrical surface of said ring,

a stepped ring mounted on and co-axial with the flange on said sleeve, the step thereof being engaged by the flanges of said half-rings to prevent movement of said support member axially of the cylinder, and

an anti-friction liner interposed between the interior surface of the sleeve and the piston rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,807 7/1894 Chaquette 37186 X 2,337,133 12/ 1943 Strain 2,837,846 6/1958 Long 37-186 2,889,643 6/1959 Chatrenet 37183 3,202,306 8/1965 Bienaime 214656 FOREIGN PATENTS 79,892 1/1963 France.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Primary Examiner.

A. E. KOPECKI, Assistant Examiner. 

